why does Shakespeare use words like thee and thou in his poems?

GnomeMage

Is it english?

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Reply 1

simplylldxo

Of course it's English, it's old English however.

Reply 2

karmacrunch

Seriously? :lolwut:

It's English yes.

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3

Sanctimonious

Original post by GnomeMage

Is it english?

No. Its the BC version of Cantonese.

Reply 4

simplylldxo

Original post by karmacrunch

Seriously? :lolwut:

Old English....

Posted from TSR Mobile

You didn't listen in English at school then. You poor soul.

Reply 5

karmacrunch

Original post by simplylldxo

You didn't listen in English at school then. You poor soul.

I'm in Year 9. :rolleyes:

... Going to Year 10. What is it then?

Both mean 'you' :confused:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 6

RayApparently

It is very archaic English. In his time it would be considered normal.

It is also worth noting that Shakespeare himself coined many phrases and created many words that are still in use today. Surely the sign of a man far ahead in his time, who wondered of things that could not be yet expressed.

Reply 7

Old_Simon

All Shakespeare plays are on the net in "translated" form lol. Google them up to see plain English.

Reply 8

Comus

Original post by GnomeMage

Is it english?

It is English, its not modern English as we would use it today but nor is it Old English - Shakespeare wrote in early modern English, so you can more or less understand it if you pay attention (Old English looks more like one of the Nordic languages).
Thou, thee and thine are second person pronouns which were eventually superseded by 'you' and, in some dialects - such as Hiberno-English - 'ye'.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 9

Caedus

Shakespeare wrote in Middle English, not Old English. Many of the words he did use are, however, quite obsolete.

Reply 10

Comus

Original post by Caedus

Shakespeare wrote in Middle English, not Old English. Many of the words he did use are, however, quite obsolete.

Perhaps veering a little off topic, but I'm fairly certain that Shakespeare was born nearly one hundred years after the middle English period ended?

Reply 11

simplylldxo

Original post by karmacrunch

I'm in Year 9. :rolleyes:

... Going to Year 10. What is it then?

Both mean 'you' :confused:

It's the language they used back when Shakespeare wrote the plays...

Reply 12

King Max

Original post by GnomeMage

Is it english?

Yes. Old english þū (pronounced thoo) changed to you because people started changing the þ sound into y, which is why we have ye olde pub which would have been þe olde pubso thou and thee are simply in between þū and you where it was pronounced thou.

Reply 13

karmacrunch

Original post by simplylldxo

It's the language they used back when Shakespeare wrote the plays...

What is/was it called? :redface:

Reply 14

King Max

Original post by karmacrunch

What's it called? :redface:

Middle English.

Reply 15

King Max

Indo European ---> Proto-Germanic ---> Old Germanic ---> Anglo-Frisian ---> Old English ---> Middle English ---> Modern English

Reply 16

Caedus

There's a huge authorship battle going on at the moment and I'm not convinced that Shakespeare actually wrote any of his work, there's very little evidence to prove that Shakespeare was educated to he degree required to write his sonnets, and there's a lot of conjecture surrounding his travels. Even the Stratfordians no longer believe he visited Italy despite writing 106 scenes set in Italy, 800 general references to Italy, 400 references to Rome, 52 to Venice, 34 to Naples, 25 to Milan, 23 to Florence, 22 to Padova, 20 to Verona, 9 to Mantua along with numerous smaller towns and settlements. Under close scrutiny, not a great deal of Shakespeare's life actually adds up. I honestly think Shakespeare was a nom de plume.